EU Calls for Dialogue as Albania Crisis Escalates

EU foreign policy chief calls on political leaders in Albania to overcome differences and find a solution to the dispute over the race for mayor of Tirana.

Besar Likmeta

Tirana

Catherine Ashton | Photo by : EC

“The narrow result in the mayoral elections in Tirana means that both sides need to reach out, overcome differences and find solutions,” said Ashton in a statement issued late Wednesday night, while noting that clashes between opposition supporters and police on Saturday had shown “the fragility of the political situation.”

Ashton urged all political leaders in Albania and in the city of Tirana to support the finalisation of the election process calmly, constructively and with a focus on the future.

“This must be done within the existing institutions and within the existing legal framework, rules and practices,” the EU chief diplomat said.

“All political leaders carry a particular responsibility not to put the lives of citizens at risk," she added.

Meanwhile local media reported that EU President Jose Manuel Barroso has cancelled his visit to Tirana, scheduled for Friday.

Opposition leader Edi Rama called for popular revolts against the government on Wednesday night after the Electoral Commission controversially overturned his victory in the race for Tirana mayor, part of the May 8 local elections in the country.

The Central Electoral Commission, CEC, overturned on Wednesday afternoon Rama’s razor thin lead of ten votes in the Tirana race against his Democratic Party rival Lulzim Basha, by counting selected ballot boxes of the city council and district races which contained misplaced ballots from the race for mayor.

The counting of the misplaced ballots gave Basha a slight lead of a handful of votes.

The Socialists argue that the CEC move is illegal and a challenge to the basic principles and democratic values of the country. However, the Democrats reject such accusations, saying that they are making sure that every vote is counted and the will of every voter expressed in the results.

Earlier on Wednesday, hundreds of opposition supporters, including two dozen MPs, clashed with police outside the CEC building when Socialist MPs tried to storm the Commission's meeting.

The May 8 local elections were seen as key test for Albania’s democratic credentials after a nearly two year long political crisis and the January 21 anti-government protests which left four protestors dead and dozens wounded.

The ruling party and the opposition have blamed each other for the violent riots, and the recent tension between Rama’s Socialists and the parliamentary majority of Prime Minister Berisha has aggravated an already poisoned political climate which has been in a troubled state since the disputed June 2009 parliamentary elections.